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Favorite music for system/speaker evaluation?

Pofarm

Pofarm

New Member
For me it's the band Haggard (not Merle).

Awaking the Centuries
The Final Victory
Eppur Si Muove

I was just wondering what other people use to find the strengths and weaknesses of their systems. Funny thing I never heard of this band mentioned here. I think they did some music for lord of the rings also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NbN_UKf6gA
 
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I have a few stand favorites that I use over and over. Bob James Foxy,Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years, Joni Mitchell's Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. On CD I have an Everest reissue of The Little Train of Capaira by Heitor Villalobos. It is a very dynamic recording with a lot of percussive texture. Also for digital workouts, I love Pat Metheny's Secret Story. It has deep and subtle layers of beautiful texture.

If a system, or speaker can bring out something new and appealing in these recordings it is a winner.
 
Thank you Isotonic I will have to check those out. I also use some Steely Dan and Return to Forever.
 
For testing upper-bass and lower-mid response, one of the best I've found is the original Blue Note LP of Chick Corea's "The Song Of Singing". The Corea Holland Altschul album "A.R.C.", which came out the following year, is also a good one for testing that stuff. Incredible recordings.

However, right now this Blue Note "RVG" LP of Stanley Turrentine's "Up At Minton's Vol. 1" is sounding pretty-damn-good, but that's a live recording from a jazz club... Not necessarily reference material, but that LP's got the classic Blue Note sound.
 
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Mostly a few tracks with which I'm very familiar.

Ballad of the Runaway Horse by Wasserman an Warnes (from his album, not hers... There are two versions)

Four tracks off of Hickox's version of Carmina Burana

The Dies Irae, Confutatis and Lacrymosa from the Shaw version of Mozart's Requiem

IGY and The Goodbye Look from Fagen's first solo album

Wash Me Clean by kd lang

The first two tracks from Amplified Heart by Everything But The Girl

Flight of The Cosmic Hippo and the reprise by Bela Fleck

Tango til They're Sore by Holly Cole

If I'm impressed at that point, I'll keep listening to that CD for a while then just wing it from there.
 
Thomas Dolby - Astronauts and Heretics, The Aliens Ate My Buick.

Andreas Vollenweider - White Winds.

Dean Can Dance - Spiritchaser (MFSL).

Wayner

Wayner
 
Are you saying that this topic has been done to death?

Never mind ... how about Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into the Fire" or Tubular Bells (y'know ... just to see if those low synth tones make anything rattle ...).
 
noogies said:
Are you saying that this topic has been done to death?

Never mind ... how about Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into the Fire" or Tubular Bells (y'know ... just to see if those low synth tones make anything rattle ...).
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Don't scare the OP off. 3 posts in 5 years. He's finally getting warmed up.

cubdog
 
For low bass response: Al DiMeola "The Embrace" - track 2 on "Kiss My Axe" (...alternate title- "Suck My Pick" :what: ) Mostly not too challenging. Except there's some gigantic drum hits about 1:45, 2:30, and 3:20. I haven't heard many systems which can reproduce those at volume without some distress.

Back when they were new, this track demonstrated to us what it sounds like when the drivers on a pair of Infinity Kappa 9s bottom out. :eek:
 
cubdog said:
Don't scare the OP off. 3 posts in 5 years. He's finally getting warmed up.

cubdog
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Good point.

Sorry, Po' farm. On a side note, don't you find most Steely Dan recordings too compressed to give your system a good ride? I love the music, but would love it more if it were a little more dynamic.
 
noogies said:
Good point.

Sorry, Po' farm. On a side note, don't you find most Steely Dan recordings too compressed to give your system a good ride? I love the music, but would love it more if it were a little more dynamic.
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I have never gotten the whole Steely Dan audiophile recording quality thing. I don't hear anything that makes their albums any better or worse than hundreds of other recordings. I've listened to them on vinyl, cassette and CD and on a variety of systems. The same goes for Fagan's solo work. I do like the music however.

cubdog
 
I agree here except I can't stand Steely Dan's music! The production sounds good (nothing exceptional) ...but the music seems tailored for folks who love background music.
 
aww... c'mon guys; I am really surprised! :-O

If you feel that way* - skip the Lite Jazz and go back, back in Steely Dan Time... try their first album, or Pretzel Logic. Heck, last night I listened to Reelin In the Years and Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me) before retiring. :-) This was great, sardonic stuff - and the liner notes to the 1990s CD reissues are entertaining as all getout, too.

* I suspect that if I encountered Aja today I'd react to it the same way I react to a lot of "audiophile" music, but having grown up with it, I come to this music from a different, more emotional than logical place. Even back in the olden days, I thought that they'd turned a corner with Gaucho (not coincidentally the last "real" Steely Dan album of the era) to a place that was all gloss, no substance. But lots of folks do like Gaucho. I never owned a copy 'til I found the LP at the dump a few years back (OK, probably 10 years back... but I never bought a copy).

On-topic - I've posted many, many times before when this is asked; unfortunately I have nothing new to add :-P

That said, because I am too lazy to search and post a link or two... I'll mention two, and only two, favorite go-tos:

LP Grateful Dead American Beauty (Mobile Fidelity half speed mastered by Stan Riker on JVC SuperVinyl)
CD Patty Larkin a gogo
 
Genesis - Squonk
David Bowie - Stay
Steve Winwood - Night Train
Depeche Mode - World in my Eyes

These are the songs I use to test my amp and speakers...
 
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